Google launches Android In-App Billing v3 with simpler design, less lost transactions and more

Google has updated its frameworks for In-App Billing for Android apps in a third version released today. The new IAB system incorporates a simpler design that allows developers to integrate the system with fewer lines of code.

Google says that the new system also has an improved architecture that will result in fewer lost transactions, along with local caching for faster API calls. The system also adds the ability to consume managed purchases and query for product information.

The new local caching feature should help to speed up response times in the app because they look up information locally rather than over the network. The new framework is also synchronous and reports the results of a purchase immediately. This trims down the code from four components to one, making it much easier to integrate IAB if you haven’t already.

The new IAB system is for in-app purchases only, but will be rolled out for subscriptions soon. Any Android 2.2+ device running the latest version of the Google Play store is supported. Licensing and In-App Billing keys are now managed on a per-app basis instead of a per-developer basis, which will allow for more granular control.